The Savage Child: The Image of the Negro in the Pro 11Slavery Movement- Response

Wander showed how pro-slavery journalist believed that black people known as the “Negro” were best off being slaves and how this shaped the prejudices of the community. He first showed how it was believed that the south would fall apart without the work of the slaves. All of the farms would be neglected and the slaves would not know how to function in society without the rule of their masters. Secondly, Wander speaks about the failure of emancipation in other areas of the world failed because the free slaves in these places turned into complete barbarians eating other humans, and killing their former masters. Third, Wander showed how slaves needed to be protected from emancipation, because clearly the slaves were better off being taken care of by their masters. Fourth, Wander gave examples of how slaves are more content with their lives then most other people. Fifth, Wander shows how the negroes were believed to be of a different species than the white man, showing they should be treated as if they are on a lower level than the white man because God created them that way. Last Wander explained the Negroes are protected from different types of abuse when they are under the control of their master.

Wander’s article provided the writings of pro-slavery journalists that were used to persuade the community to believe that slavery was an acceptable thing to do for various reasons. The most important point that was made about human symbolic behavior is that the community believed slavery was just from the writings of a few persuasive writers. These writers only gave one side of the argument that looked credible given there was no opposing arguments being presented. The Negro’s point of view was never expressed in these arguments. This article taught me people are easily persuaded when they are not educated on all sides of an argument.

I learned that criticism can be conducted in a way without using negative words. This author showed the ridiculous claims of past journalists and that in itself proved to be enough to convince the reader that these journalists were wrong in their claims.

Explaining It To Ourselves: The Phases of National Mourning in Space Tragedy-Response

Goldzwig’s and Dionisopoulos’ article looks at the Challenger space tragedy to explain the grieving process when an inappropriate death occurs. First the authors explain how the grief process works. First there is the reaction phase of shock, second there is the phase of disorganization and reorganization, and third there is national reorientation and recovery. The article then goes on to explain how the nation grieved through these phases about the Challenger tragedy. The key argument in this article was to show concrete evidence of the grieving process occurring.

This article demonstrated how the media has the power to shape the grieving process of nation about a national tragedy. Journalists have the power to construct the feelings of the nation about a tragedy such as the Challenger through the media. The important point being made about human symbolic behavior is that people can be easily persuaded by the media to react to situations in specific ways. I’ve learned the media is a powerful tool for persuasion.

I learned from this article that is not necessary to only point out critical aspects of an artifact when conducting a criticism on it. This article gave a bunch of reasons how the Challenger grieving process followed the typical grieving process, but then went on to say it has not completed the process. Yet the nation still seems to be functioning back to normal without total closure to the situation. The grieving process was being challenged in this article, but the reader was not aware until a specific aspect of the process was examined at the end. I hope I can use this type of persuasion in my work to challenge old findings by pointing out findings that I both agree and disagree.